Phenol oxidizing enzymes function by catalyzing redox reactions, i.e., the transfer of electrons from an electron donor (usually a phenolic compound) to molecular oxygen (which acts as an electron acceptor) which is reduced to H2O or H2O2. While being capable of using a wide variety of different phenolic compounds as electron donors, phenol oxidizing enzymes are very specific for molecular oxygen as the electron acceptor.
Phenol oxidizing enzymes can be utilized for a wide variety of applications, including in the detergent industry, the paper and pulp industry, the textile industry, and the food industry. Phenol oxidizing enzymes are specifically used for their color modifying ability for example for pulp and paper bleaching, for bleaching the color of stains on fabric, and for anti-dye transfer in detergent and textile applications. While the prior art does teach various phenol oxidizing enzymes useful in the above mentioned applications, there remains a need for new and more effective phenol oxidizing enzymes having stain bleaching ability, anti-dye transfer properties, and selective stain removal ability. It is a purpose of the present application to create phenol oxidizing enzyme-peptide complexes with increased binding ability to target stains when compared to the corresponding phenol oxidizing enzyme without the binding peptide. A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a phenol oxidizing enzyme-peptide complex having bleaching ability and particularly to provide a phenol oxidizing enzyme-peptide complex having an ability to remove stains obtained from carotenoid chromophore containing compounds such as those found in tomato and paprika.